The Story Before Time
by andreaslover09
Summary: The current Priestess of the Dragon God is actually just a filler. She goes to public appearnces in order to hide the truth. By nature, she doesn't mind pretending to be the Priestess. Until she has a strange dream that makes her question her title.
1. Chapter 1

Being the Priestess of the Dragon God is no easy task. When it comes to keeping the peace it can be hard. Usually I just lay around with nothing to do. The people expect more from me than I can give. The demons aren't attacking the land, yet. So I am here kept locked up inside the palace shrine for safe keeping. This way if I am needed I will be safe, hopefully. I don't understand why I am kept locked up. I have trained for many years and have basically mastered my powers. The only thing I am used for is to decide to whom a horse belongs to between two neighbors. How I wish I could quit. Too bad being a priestess isn't a job you quit. So here I am sitting in my room looking hopelessly out the window wondering what I should do now.

Crashing came through the hallway towards my room. The door flung open. Fuji-hime was at the door with Tomomasa behind her. "Michelle-sama it's awful! Tachibana no Tomomasa is bullying me. He said no prince with any sense would ever consider marrying me. That I will be a lonely maiden for the rest of my life."

"My dear Michelle, you look wonderful this afternoon. How come you did not visit me during breakfast?"

"Don't change the subject you horrible man." Fuji-hime said pulling his ear so he would back away from me.

"Odd how a man with no wife or even a potential marriage partner says that you will never be married." Fuji-himes face lit up from Michelle's defense for her. "Unless he speaks from experience." As soon as the light came to Fuji-himes face it went. Fuji-hime yelled as loud as she could and stormed out of the room with several maids chasing after her because of her threat to run away and to calm her down. Tomomasa had finally calmed himself down from wanting to burst out laughing.

"I find it amusing when you tease people. There is something about the way you do it that speaks for itself."

"I have to do something in order to entertain myself around here." A guard showed himself in the doorway facing away from the entrance meaning he was a low level. He announced to Tomomasa that the emperor wanted to see him for military matters.

"By the way, how would you that I don't have someone I am interested in?" He meant that more of a question he didn't want answered because with that he left. I left my room in search of something to do. I headed for the library hoping that it would have a book I have not read yet. Chances were good that it didn't. As usual I found Fujiwara doing his work diligently. It was like that guy never took a break. He lived for work.

"I take it by your constant note taking that you haven't got a book in here that I haven't already a thousand times."

"Nice to know you are so full of enthusiasm." He said to me without looking up from his notes. I covered his notes with my hand forcing him to look up at me. I asked him if he ever thought about taking a break. And that as Priestess of the Dragon God, I demanded he take a break for the Dragon God told me so. Fujiwara just chuckled; he knew that I was just a replacement for the priestess. I was not actually the Priestess of the Dragon God but actually just a face for public appearance so that the people would feel safe. I told him that he could laugh all he wanted and that the wrath of the Dragon God would catch up with him one day. Again he just chuckled. Lastly I told him that he did seriously need to take a break. After that I left.

_What do I want to do with myself?_ I thought as I walked the long halls of the palace. _Surely there must be more than this._ _I know what I want. I want…_ "Oh, excuse me emperor. I was not paying attention to where I was going." He motioned for his servants to leave him, so they backed away slowly then retreated around the corner.

"It has come to my attention that you are not very happy at your stay here." The emperor said to me while we were walking and talking.

"It is not that I am unhappy. It is just that I have nothing to do. I have been doing nothing for so long that I would be happy to clean the floor of the entire palace."

"Ha! We cannot have our famous priestess doing maid work. That is nonsense." As his voice softened to its normal tone he asked, "Have you considered being a match maker? My daughter could use a good husband. I haven't the time or the patience to find her one. He has to have come from a good family meaning rich mainly. I leave it up to you, with the Dragon God on your side I know that you will not let me down." _No problem_ I thought to myself. I just find some rich guy halfway decent and then problem sloved. I went through some records of bachlors for Fuji-hime to marry. It seems that every good man has sent in a request for marriage. But of course she is daughter of the emperor. I picked out all the best looking and best connections. I wrote them all an invatation to come to the Shrine of the Dragon God in reguards to their proposal to Fuji-hime. When I will hear from them again I cannot say.

I was going through the files of the bachlors when in walked Tomomasa. He always had a talent of annoying me. He sat down at the other end of the table and grabbed a paper right out of my hands. With a surprised face he said, "I had no idea that you wanted to get married. If you wanted to settle down so badly all you had ask. I would take good care of you."

"If only I could trust you to leave those other women. Then I would gladly give my heart to you instead of selling out to these better men."

"I would give up everything I have for you." He said staring at me handing me the paper.

"Michelle-sama! Don't be fooled by the shameless flirt. He will say anything to you in order to get what he wants!" It was Tenma. He had came out from his hiding place. He follows me around to protect me in case something happens.

"Good work Tenma. I didn't sense you at all today. Your hiding skills are getting much better." Tomomasa stated and I nodded my head in agreement.

"It's true. I thought that you had taken the day off to try to fool me." I said to him putting the paper that Tomomasa took from me among the other papers I had gone through.

"Stop changing the subject!" He demanded. "Would you really consider marrying someone like him. He has no morals when it comes to women. He only plans to use you in some evil scheme he has created."

"Tenma please stop yelling. We were only joking. These papers are not a marriage for me but for Fuji-hime. Why must you take everything so literally?" Tenma turned bright red and Tomomasa just laughed. Tenma was yelling at him to stop laughing and of course that made Tomomasa laugh harder.

"Dancing with myself" Billy Idol


	2. Chapter 2

After dinner I wanted to take a bath. It is really the only thing for me to do. I headed to the bathing room went outside to the hot springs. I washed my hair and body before entering the hot spring. I soaked in the water looking up at the starry sky. _My whole life is a lie._ _The emperor and the guardians_ _all okay with that. Maybe I should ask why they need me again. I forgot when I asked the first time._ The sky hadn't changed. The stars were still shining bright with no clouds in the sky. There was no moon so it wasn't overly bright. "Minamoto," I called to him for I knew he was hiding somewhere nearby, "Come here."

He opened the sliding door and walked in. His head was bowed out of respect and so that he couldn't see anything. He was somewhat red in the face. "You can sit behind something if it will make you feel better." He sat behind a rock with his back up against it. I was on the other side of the rock and I asked him, "Why do you protect me?"

"You are the Priestess of the Dragon God and I am a guardian. It is my duty." He answered swiftly.

"But I am not the Priestess of the Dragon God. It was decided that I would be a replacement. You were there at the meeting when it was decided. Unless there is something I am missing."

"I assure you, you know as much as myself. And I protect you because I swore to protect the priestess and now that you have that title I must."

"That title, eh?" I looked off into the sky again. I was hesitating asking to say what was next. I wanted to tell him the story again although he had heard it so many times before. Why couldn't I just say it? Why I am always so conscious about these things? I could sigh to myself and hope that next time I would have the guts to say it. "You may leave now."

"…I like it here."

I smiled to myself. I told him that he could stay and that is was a lovely night. He agreed with me and told me the stories of the constellations for the hundredth time. Usually he would show me where the constellations were but I was taking a bath so he continued to tell me the stories. When I got up he dismissed himself and I walked out of the hot spring. I dried myself off and put my night clothes on. Opening the final door Minamoto was nowhere to be seen. He must have gone back to the room.

It felt like the flames engulfed me as I was surrounded by fire. I had markings all over my body and they were burning like the fire around me. A body lay on the ground that bled white blood. As I run towards the body the perspective changes. I see a man giving a woman a xeranthemum. Before she accepts I wake up.

_It's that dream again._ I thought to myself. I have had this dream for the past week. I wake up in the morning in a cold sweat. _This has to be a sign, but a sign of what?_ That I did not know. Why are these always so complicated to understand? What I do know from this dream is that the emperor is lying to me. How I knew that for certain, I couldn't say either. But there was a something inside of me that knew for sure.

I got dressed and walked out of room and headed for the dining hall. Today Shimon and Inori had come back from the countryside. With the return it would only make things louder. Now that I think of it I have not seen Abe around in a while. This was like him though, he would disappear time from time and not come back for days.

"Ah, Shimon. Inori. How was your trip?"

"Boring," replied Shimon. "But that is what I get for trying to help Inori out."

"Don't mock me! You wanted to come, don't even try to blame it on me." Inori snapped at Shimon. Shimon pretended like he didn't hear him and continued to speak to me. That always did make Inori mad. I laughed because of the series of events.

~Cut scene to the Mountains~

"The priestess can have her laughs for now. But once I spread the word that she has created a gem that will give the holder the power of the Oni King, her peaceful days will be over."

"What is someone gets to her before us?"

"Don't worry. Those mediocre demons can't touch the Priestess of the Dragon God."

"You are always right after all. No wonder everyone wants to work for you."

It was a man standing in the entrance of a cave looking down on the palace and the surrounding village. By his side was a fox demon with long blonde hair. The man had long silver hair and worn a masquerade mask that matched the color of his hair.


	3. Chapter 3

There was a huge crashing sound from outside. We rushed outside and Abe was getting up from a pile of rubble. Quickly, something pasted by and headed for Abe. Minamoto blocked the attempt of an attack on Abe. It was a demon. His sword was covered in blood from Abe. He looked around and fixed his gaze on me. "Word is that you have something that belongs to me." He said in a cold blood-thirsty voice. "It would be easier to just hand it over now."

Tenma got in front of me to block him. "So that's the way it's going to be. Fine." He made a quick dash towards me. Motomasa grabbed my hand and rushed me back inside. While running down a hall another demon busted through the ceiling right in front of us. I was coughing from the dust standing behind Motomasa the whole time. The demon came towards him and Motomasa told me to run.

I ran the opposite direction; I stopped half-way through a hall-way when I heard demon voices from the other end. _This doesn't make any sense. Why are we getting attacked all of a sudden?_ A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the hall-way. With a hand over my mouth, I stood quite. The voices from the demons were getting louder meaning they were close. Eventually they stopped right in front of where I was. My heart was beating like crazy. Tears starting forming in my eyes.

They walked past and as the hand over my mouth let go I sighed from relief. My rescuer wore a mask and a hat. He had black hair. "You're welcome priestess." He said to me with the most sincere respect. I did not say anything back but just nodded my head. I continued to stare at him for I had never seen him before and what was with that mask. "If you are wondering about my mask it is because I was in a fire." _That must have quite an ordeal_. "It was very painful. I lost my entire family. The fire could not even spare my eldest son."

"That's awful." He shook his head in agreement. He looked at me and could tell that even in the dark I was shaking.

"Priestess, everything is alright now. The demons have gone and we are safe." He put his hands in his in an attempt to calm me down. When I looked at him, something was different. It was not right. His golden eyes looking down on me gave me shivers down my spine. Yet I couldn't let go I couldn't pull myself away.

He released my hands and took a step back. I had stopped shaking, he made me feel safe. He bowed to me and said he must go. He was gone from my sight. "Michelle-sama!" I rushed to the place where the first attack was. Abe was in bad shape. Fujiwara and Minamoto held Abe up and took him to his room. Abe was sitting up in his bed as I put bandages on him. He had a long cut across his chest.

"I am glad you are safe." Abe said to me.

"Me? Safe? I am glad you are ok. You could have died."

"I am glad that you are concerned."

"You sure are happy for someone who could have been killed."

He didn't say anything. This wound might take a while to heal. "Priestess. This is only the beginning. There are rumors going around about you. They say that you have the power of immortality."

"How can I have the power of immortality when I am not even a priestess? I just pretend to be one. I thought demons could sense things like power. If they did then they would know that I am powerless."

"All I know is that they think you have it. So please, promise me you will be careful from now on." I nodded my head. I was finished with the bandage.

"Promise me that you won't move around too much. It will be bad if that wound opens up. The doctor will have to put stitches in. Here, lay down." I grabbed his should and his hand to help him lay down.

I let go of him and wanted to leave the room so he can have some rest. Instead I sat in the chair next to his bed and stayed. I sat in silence next to him. He closed his eyes in order to fall asleep. About 15 minutes later, I could tell that he had fallen asleep so I left.

I went back to the shrine and prayed to the Dragon God to give me strength because I could tell I was going to need it now.


	4. Chapter 4

It has been two nights since the attack. I continue to be scared of the fact that it might happen again. I lay in bed awake wondering if it could happen again. I refuse to get out even though it is morning, but something inside me forces me out of bed. In the mirror my golden eyes looked back at me. My long red hair reflecting the suns light. My silly priestess outfit was hanging next to the mirror. I walked to my closet and put my old kimono on; this one matched me much better. A small flame came out from the palm of my hand. _It's nice to know I can do a little still._

There was a knock on my door followed by a servants voice, "Priestess, Eisen has returned from his pilgrimage and wishes to speak to you." The servant left and was to report back to him saying that I would be there shortly. I walked down the halls like any other day. I followed the sound of the flute to where Eisen was. I quietly listened behind the door; he was a very skilled player. Quietly, I opened the door while he was finishing the song. When he knew that I came in the room he stopped playing.

"You stopped before my favorite part." I said joking disappointment.

"I'm sorry; maybe next time you will be stealthier," he said to me with a happy face. I asked him how his pilgrimage was. He told me about the people he had meet and the land he had seen. "I heard there was an attack yesterday."

"There was."

"Are you scared?"

"No, annoyed."

"What will you do?"

"I will find what they want."

"You make it sound like it will be easy."

"Don't you worry your pretty face off Eisen; I can take care of this matter. I am the priestess after all." He opened his mouth as to add in protest. "No, I don't want to hear it. I was assigned the Priestess of the Dragon God so I will hold out my duty in regards for the safety of others." I got up and proceeded to leave the room not allowing him to say anything else.

I demanded that a horse be ready for me to travel into town. Servants were trying to talk me out of it and telling me to send a guardian instead. I ignored them until it became annoying to me. I had exclaimed that I have decided and nothing they could say would convince me otherwise. Upon grabbing the reins of the horse I was to ride, Minamoto and Tenma rushed up and tired to stop me. I mounted the horse before they could reach me. "Are you crazy?" Tenma asked me, "What are you thinking? Were you seriously thinking about leaving by yourself?"

"I was thinking that because I will leave bymyself." I stated putting and emphasis on the last word.

"Please priestess, no Michelle-sama. If you insist on going allow one of us to escort you in case something happens."

"No." I said flatly and immediately. "I am the Priestess of the Dragon God. Meaning I must show courage and compassion for my people, isn't time that I starting act like it? This is something I must do by myself." There was no reply, they stood in shock for I was so out of character. I took it upon myself to speak again, "I may be gone for a while. If I need your help you will know." With that I rode out the palace doors.

"Wh-who was that?" Tenma managed to say after standing there awestruck.

"Such a drastic change of character," Tomomasa said coming out from the entrance to the palace. Then gave out a sigh and said, "That just makes her more interesting."

"Don't joke around!" Tenma shouted. "It is all her fault that Akane disappeared. As soon as Akane saw her she left and we haven't heard a word from her. I mean she doesn't even have any power! How can she come in and just take her place like that." Tenma stormed off into the palace. Tenma jumped over the wall the continued to go forward. He was going to a place where he could be alone. When he arrived there was a small stream with some trees.

He thought of Akane. All this time he had missed her and was worried about her. It was so unlike her to just leave like that, why would she do that? She wouldn't have gone home without him, and Akuram didn't take her. He wondered what things would be like if she was here now. He certainly would not have to put up with that fake priestess Michelle. He knew that it wasn't Michelle's fault that Akane had left, but he couldn't help but blame her. There was something about Michelle that made him want to spill all of his secrets. Everything he had ever kept hidden wanted to come pouring out like a rushing waterfall. But why?

*In a small village on the outskirts of the palace*

"Oh mom! I need your help. I don't know what to do anymore. First, I starting have the same dream over and over again. Then, I get attacked by several demons at once. Please, give me some advice. I mean there is no way I can tell anyone at the palace about this…" My mother gently put her finger on my mouth to silence me.

"My first bit of advice would be to calm down. And how did you get out of the palace? Surely they would not have let you go being the nervous wreck you are now." I held my hand up as a motion that I did not want to talk about it. She shrugged her shoulders and went along with it. "How about that dream, maybe you should look into that. You are a priestess so it has to have meaning of some sort, especially since you have had it more than once."

I told her about my dream and her guess of it was as good as mine, nothing.

-If you would like a picture of what Michelle looks like, just message.

"Breathe" Michelle Branch


	5. Chapter 5

I returned to the shrine later in the evening. When I arrived there was a line of young men I did not recognize. I looked next to me and a servant whispered in my ear that these were the men for Fuji-hime. I nodded my head and requested the papers. The servant girl had them ready and handed them to me. I called the first into the shrine and began the questioning. One by one the young bachelors came and went. None were exceptional or noticeable, until I came upon Kyou no Domyoji. As soon as he sat himself down at the other end of the table his eyes sparkled.

He said it was nice to meet me, I simply continued to look at his paper. "Domyoji-kun, I see that you have a considerable amount of inheritance."

"Yes."

"It also says that you have been asked to marry several ladies from around the country but you have turned them all down. Any particular reason?"

"I have only had my eyes on one woman ever since I was young."

"So you have wanted to become emperor since childhood. That is very ambitious of you."

"That is not what I said." I looked up at him from the paper and our eyes met for the first time. "I never said that I wanted to marry Fuji-hime."

"What did you come here for?"

He did not answer me but he didn't have to. His silence said it all.

"You may leave." I told him and motioned to the door. He just got up and left. The swiftness of his exit reminded me of when the oni attacked. That man who had saved me had the same sparkle in his eyes, it was unmistakable. But if he really was him then which story was the lie?

I walked normally down the hall to the library where the records were also held. I casually opened the door to see if Fujiwara was in the room. He was not, meaning for once in his life he must be taking a break. I grabbed the records for families with 'D' in the last 20 years. I stuffed them in kimono and awkwardly walked back to the door. Fujiwara surprised me when he was on the other side of the door. Luckily I did not drop the files that I was technically stealing. "You startled me," I said to me hoping that the files had not slipped.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked me surprised to see me.

"I wanted to see if you had taken that break." He clearly did not believe my lie, but he did not question me any further. He walked into the room, sat down at his desk and continued to do his work. I walked behind him and there was the dragon jewel on his neck. "Fujiwara, have you ever thought of removing that jewel?"

"It is impossible, only the Priestess of the Dragon God can do so."

I nodded my head even though he could not see me. The jewel shined brightly like it was taunting me. I wanted to reach out and touch it but because I am not the priestess I would only end up hurting myself. "I will see you later Fujiwara."

He made no movement in a way to wish me goodbye as I left the room. I went to the shrine locking the doors behind me. I poured the files on the table, and went through one by one until I found Domyoji. There was nothing but names of peasant farmers. No rich noblemen, nothing. Again and again I checked but there was nothing. The alternative spellings and everything I could think of.

"That was quite a display this morning. I could never imagine you like that." A voice said behind me and it startled me. I franticly grabbed the papers and tried to put them together and into a folder in a poor attempt to hide them. Yet again it was Motomasa and his natural ability to show up at the worst time. "My my, what is all of this." He said walking closer to the table where I was trying to hide all the papers. As he bent down to grab some I prepared myself to put use all of my strength to prevent him from seeing what I was hiding. But as he bent down I could see down his shirt and when I caught a glimpse of his jewel my eyes locked in and I could see nothing more.

He was able to grab the papers and I didn't move. When he got back up I snapped out of it and tried to grab the paper from him. He had a firm grip on my wrist and after that I gave up because I realized it was too late. "What are you doing with these?" I just shrugged my shoulders refusing to answer him. "Don't get in over your head. You are much too pretty to lose." He released my wrist and started to pick up the papers. He was going to put them back where they belonged.

Suddenly I felt ashamed and embarrassed. I was supposed to be honest and I just caught reading files I had stolen, even if I meant to return them. "Don't be like that. I will return them and we will forget this even happened."

"Why are you here? I mean were you waiting for me? Why do you always show up at the least convenient time?" I looked at him and he was just looking at me normally as though nothing was wrong. I sighed and just shook my head, "I'm sorry. It's just that I feel strange, like I can't describe it. Something inside of me is screaming and whatever it is just wants to break loose."

"That sounds rough." He said sitting down at the table across from me. "I am an expert with women and I think you need a present like flowers." He said in his usual playful voice.

_Flowers_,_ that's it._ It dawned on me. I remembered my dream; I just got too distracted from all the guys here and then that Kyou. "Quick, Motomasa do you know what the flower xeranthemum means? I mean you should know because you must have given at least one woman this type of flower."

"If I am not mistaken it means immortality and eternity."

"I have to go…" I said jumping up from the table, "again."


	6. Chapter 6

My head felt like a brick as I rested it on my hand. I had been reading books all night looking for something connected to my dream. I looked in _The Big Book of Legends_, I looked in every flower book I could find and fables. Yet I still found nothing. _Why is my life so miserable?_ I slammed my head on the book lying on the table. "Priestess, you have been up all night. You should get some rest." Minamoto told me in the same mono-tone, business-like voice.

"Yes Michelle-sama, you shouldn't overwork yourself. Especially in times like these. The surrounding villages are getting attacked one by one and more refuges are coming to the palace grounds for safety. We can't take care of them all, we need to do something. You need to make a decision." Shimon calmly told me.

"It is hard to explain how the oni got past the barriers without being detected. Someone must have let them in from the inside." Fujiwara said.

As all of the guardians were discussing a plan of action, my head was still flat against the book. It could have been seen as me possibly trying to absorb the knowledge, but of course I wasn't. In fact, I wasn't even listening to the conversation. _How could things get so bad so fast? I mean about a week and a half ago I was sitting around wondering what I was supposed to do with my life. And now this, I can't deal with this. I should have never accepted this job._

"We have drawn a map of cities attacked and cities left. My guess is that they will strike here, here or here." Motomasa said pointing to three different places on the map. "I say we split into three different teams and wait at each village. This way we will be ready no matter where they decide to strike." I looked up with my chin resting on the book now. It must have been depressing that the person whom they were protecting had basically given up, if I was the Priestess of the Dragon God.

"I want to go to the mountains." I said having no relevancy to the topic at hand. The guardians just looked at me surprised that I had spoken and confused as to why I would want to go there.

"But Michelle-sama you need to stay here so you can be saf…" Tenma started to say and before he could finish I cut him off.

"Blah blah blah, as if I haven't heard that a thousand times. You can say that all you want but the fact of the matter is that I am not the priestess and I am tired of being locked here like some kind of prisoner. If you actually thought of me as the priestess we would go to that mountain and do something about this guardian and priestess style. But clearly that doesn't matter to you so why should it matter to me?"

I did not receive a response, that was typical now-a-days. It is hard to believe that with just a dream could have started all of this. So, because I did not receive a response I walked out of the door and left. This was it; I had to do take of things my way. So first I need to find out who or what the cause of the evil aura the mountain was omitting.

My horse trotted up the rigid mountain path. This was a rather bright and easy-going looking forest for one where the demons lived. It probably only looked bright because the sun was the highest in the sky and when night struck all of that could have changed. It was a long, rough journey but I couldn't give up. At dusk I made it to a small cave that overlooked the palace and the whole town perfectly. It was such a nice view disregarding the fact that oni possibly lived here.

Walking down the cave the walls were damp. After walking several feet I saw the glow of torches and a wooden door. I was not afraid as I grabbed the door handle but it was opening the door that sent my heart racing. All the possible things that could go wrong flashed before my eyes. Next thing I see is darkness.

I wake up fine, minus a major headache. It is hard to believe that I was in such a nicely decorated room. It almost looked like a room out of the palace, except this furniture was more to my liking. It was brightly lit a very comfortable room. A man opened the sliding door on the other side of the room. I knew exactly who it was, "what kind of story do you have for me now?" He sat down and when I got a good look at him I asked him, "Is this how you really look, or just another clever disguise?"

He chuckled to himself, "how did you guess?"

"Your eyes," I answered quickly then continued, "I have seen a lot of people and no one has eyes like yours. Your eyes shine bright and sparkle even in the darkest shadows, your eyes will shine."

A silence fell between us but it was not like any other silence. There was nothing awkward about this. This silence felt perfectly natural. "Why did you come here?"

"Because you are here," I paused a moment before I started again, "I need you. I am drawn to you by something I cannot explain. There is something about you that brought me here and will continue to do so unless I know the whole truth. I feel that you know it. So I beg of you, please tell me your name."

"Akuram."


	7. Chapter 7

The next day I returned to the shrine. I was stopped in my tracks by the overwhelming voices I could hear coming from inside. Soon I figured out that Akane had returned. I peeked in from an upper window and saw that indeed she had returned. Something inside me ripped me apart. With all the guardians in the room celebrating her return. I couldn't stand to see any more so I simply took my eyes off of the scene but I couldn't leave. I continued to listen to their cheers. _I was only the replacement._

"Akane, let's move you back into your old room! This way you can continue to stay here and actually do something. The fake priestess just lazed around doing nothing and complained all the time." Tenma said drinking another cup of sake.

"Oh no, we can't do that. It wouldn't be nice. I will just find a different room."

"Don't be silly, that room is for the priestess and you are the official priestess."Some of the guardians and some servants howled with laughter. Usually they would not laugh like that but because they had so much to drink.

After that I had heard enough and quietly went back to my room to gather what few things I had. I looked about the room and those days of me lazing around didn't seem so bad anymore and now I had to leave, but I knew this day would come eventually.

"You know, you don't have to leave." It was Akane. She has somehow managed to leave her own welcoming party and sneak all the way here.

"Yes I do, now that you are here there is no need for me to be here."

"You could me my advisor. I heard that when the villages were being attacked you went up to the mountain by yourself and then the attacks stopped. They keep giving me the credit by I insist that I didn't do anything but they won't listen to me."

"There is a surprise." I said to her placing my things in a small bag prepared to put on my horse and leave this place forever.

"What did you do?" She asked sitting down on the bed that now belonged to her.

"Nothing really, I just talked to this guy. I highly doubt that he stopped the attacks."

"Who did you talk to? What did he look like?"

"Well he had blue eyes and blonde hair, sorry I am not very good at descriptions but he did say his name. I think it was Kurama, no Akurama, no Akuram. I don't remember." Her eyes widen at the last name I said. I took that as a sign that she knew him.

The voices in the hall were calling for Akane. The voices came from the guardians and the others who were in the shrine. "See, it's not my name they call. It's yours."

"Wait," she said in an attempt to stop me from leaving but it was too late. She continued to stare out the window exited from. The door burst open and there was everyone excited and happy still in the celebration spirit.

Akane was staring off into space and once the group noticed that she wasn't paying attention Tenma asked, "What's wrong?"

She mumbled to herself at first then she spoke again where everyone could hear her. "Blue eyes," her eyes were lost in her fantasies and her face was longing to see those eyes she had imagined.

"Hi mom," I said walking in the door of my small house I consider to be a hut.

"Hey honey, what are you doing here?" She was stirring a pot of soup of a small fire in the middle of the room.

"She came back."

"Akane?" I nodded my head. I told her what happened minus the part where I met a demon in the mountains and had a normal conversation with him. "Well it is about time she came back. I mean what kind of Priestess of the Dragon God just disappears like that? Honestly, she has no decency. I wonder what she was up to all this time. But now that you are back you can help your father with the farm. Haru has been helping out as much as he can but he has a family of his own to take care of…" my mother went on with her story and I simply looked out the window and saw my dad coming working the field. I went outside to greet him.

The day passed by quickly and I found myself awake around 11 at night. I couldn't help but slightly miss my old life because now my life was full of mystery. I don't know what my dream means, I don't know why I felt the way I did when I saw Akuram and most importantly I don't know what is going to happen next.


	8. Chapter 8

"Mom, what was the story you used to tell me when I was young?"

"You mean the one about the Goddess and the mortal man? Oh, I remember that. It was so long ago."

"Yeah, could you tell it to me?"

The story starts out in the palace village with a poor man trying to sell his harvest. He lived in a surrounding village in a family house although he did not have a family to take care of he worked hard. He prayed to the Dragon God everyday for a good harvest and for things to turn around. Then one night he hears a sound coming from outside in his work field. He rushes outside thinking it was an animal but when he opens the door he stops dead in his tracks. Before him is the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and he instantly feel in love.

After that night the two would meet in secret and the love between him and her grew deeper and deeper. At night she would give his crops a magical touch that would help the crops grow and become delicious. But the happiness was short lived when one night someone caught a glimpse of the goddess working on his field and speaking to the man. The next morning rumors started about him speaking to a witch and selling his soul to the Dark Dragon in order to have a good harvest.

Days went by and he knew that the other villagers were getting restless and were bound to do something drastic. When night came and he met with the goddess he told her his tale and that his time was coming. The goddess was saddened that she would live on forever without him. So she gave him a gift that would last him all eternity.

The next day the villagers burst into the man's house and dragged him out into the streets. The jealous villagers beat him to death asking him where his god was now. He told them on the verge of death that she lived in him and she would always have a place in his heart and that he could see no other woman. Those were his dying words and his body was burned down with his house.

Later that night, he rose from the ashes perfectly fine. It was the gift the goddess gave him. She had given him her immortality and rebirth. She gave him her powers and everything she had to give. The man had a new face a new body and new powers. And in his place the goddess had died.

The man thought that he would never see her again, but he didn't know that the goddess still had a few tricks up her sleeve. She would be reborn and continue to be reborn with her memories suppressed until they were needed. After that started the Priestess of the Dragon God because she is supposedly the goddess who moralized herself yet still has connections with the Gods which is why the Dragon God makes a connection with her.

With that, the story ends and I now envy Akane even more. She was beautiful, had a title and status, and a compelling story to back it all up. No wonder everyone loved her. I asked my mom what the guardians were supposed to represent and she answered me by telling me that the guardians are chosen by the Dragon God to protect the goddess until she took back her powers from the from the man she took them from.

_Boring,_ I thought to myself._ She gets all the attention_. I wished that things made sense in my life for once. Soon after, I went to sleep and had that dream again where that silly man was giving a woman a flower. Maybe it was the man giving the goddess her power back. Yeah right, not likely.


End file.
